


The safest place is in her arms

by sadpendragon



Series: Winter in Camelot 2018/2019 [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Kid Fic, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Transphobia, the kids are like seven i guess idk ive never written kids, wrong use of pronouns but not much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 23:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17313677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadpendragon/pseuds/sadpendragon
Summary: Elena really tried not ruining Christmas for Mithian. But when the world seemed to be against you, being strong wasn't always easy.Luckily, Mithian will always be there to pick her back up.





	The safest place is in her arms

**Author's Note:**

> Ficlet for [Pendragons and Co’s Winter In Camelot](https://pendragonsandco-winterholidays.tumblr.com/post/180639861518/welcome-to-pendragons-and-companys-winter-in).
> 
> Prompt: "Character A asks their mom/dad for a Barbie for Christmas. They receive an Action Man instead. Character B, upon seeing how upset they are, offers to give them their new Barbie."
> 
>   ~~ _i know this is definitely not the first idea anyone would get with this prompt and i probably also made it too sad and the fluff too short but i hope i don't disappoint too much_~~

Elena only had two problems in life. The first one was that she was a girl, the second one was that her mother didn’t want to believe she was. For as long as she could remember Elena had wanted to be a girl, well, she had felt like she was a girl. Elena had collected timeouts and punishments for acting like a girl and for stealing girl clothes from Mithian; but everything she ever got from Mithian, her friend had given to her willingly.

Mithian hadn’t been bothered when Elena had told her she was a girl and asked her to call her Elena. She had simply smiled and said, ‘That makes sense. Boys are stupid, but you're great! Of course you’re a girl.’ Mithian was amazing, she was smart and kind and didn’t mind getting in trouble together. She liked it when she could stay over at her house, they could play with dolls without her mother’s judging stare and her father’s sad eyes. She remembers when she had told Miss Nemeth, Mithian’s mom, about being a girl. Unlike her own mother, she hadn’t frowned and lashed out, just smiled, nodded, and asked if _Elena_ wanted more glitter on her nail polish.

Mithian’s parents were close to her dad. For Christmas, Mithian and her parents stayed over for dinner. Elena liked it when they were here, her mother treated her more kindly when they were; she’d call her ‘Ely’ instead, pretending it was a nickname for Elena. After dinner it was time to open presents and they all gathered around the tree. Elena didn’t really care for Christmas, but she knew Mithian liked it a lot and that always made her happy. This year, Elena had dared asking for a barbie, her father had smiled so even though her mother had frowned, she had hope.

That hope was crushed the moment she opened up her present to see an action man. She looked up at her mother—who was displaying her forced, tight smile—and frowned. She unboxed the toy as fast as she could, still frowning.

“Do you like it Elena?” Miss Nemeth asked hesitantly.

An amused and slightly disbelieving chuckle came out of her mother, “Of course he likes it. He’s been begging for a doll.”

When it was unboxed Elena stood up, and looked her mother dead in the eyes before she threw it at her and screamed, “I hate you!” The room, apart from her mother’s shocked scream, had grown quiet. “I’m not a boy,” she started to cry, “I’m a girl. You know I’m a girl!”

Her dad squatted down and tried holding her. “Elena baby—” but Elena threw him off.

“No! I hate both of you. I want a barbie. I want to wear dresses, like Mithy! I don’t want to live another day as boy. I'm Elena, I'm a girl!” She pushed her dad’s attempts at holding her away before running off to her room.

Elena could hear the grownups arguing as she cried in her bed. The door to her room opened quietly and a small brunette head poked inside. “‘Lena?” Mithian whispered.

Elena quickly wiped her tears away. “Hey Mithy.” She tried to smile but it fell when Mithian was fully in front of her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Mithian placed herself next to Elena in bed. “Why are you sorry?”

“I know how much you love Christmas and I ruined it.”

Mithian just chuckled and hugged her quickly. “You silly,” she handed her a barbie that Elena had only now noticed was in her hand. “Here this is for you,” Mithian said, “I got a new barbie, you can have it.”

The barbie was placed in Elena’s hands and her eyes widened. “What? No you only got one!”

“I’ve got plenty more at home. Besides this one looks too much like me. You can have her and think of me.”

Mithian kissed the top of her head and went back for a harder, longer hug, which made the tears pour out of Elena again.

“Thank you Mithy,” she choked off. Holding the doll close to her chest, she buried herself in Mithian’s embrace.

“You’re my best friend ‘Lena. Forever.”

Elena hiccupped. “Promise?”

“Pinky promise,” she said, holding her pinkie out.

Elena hooked their pinkies together and smiled. “Merry Christmas Mithy.”

“Merry Christmas Elena.”

They could faintly hear someone knocking on Elena’s door as they fell asleep cuddled up together.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[ART] Safe and Sound](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18045920) by [Nebula5030](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebula5030/pseuds/Nebula5030)




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